Tyler Boyd gives an injury update on his knee

It’s safe to say the MCL injury Tyler Boyd suffered late last season was a little more serious than originally thought.

The injury came in Week 15 in a win over the Raiders, the last time Cincinnati would taste victory in 2018. It was also the game in which Boyd reached 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in his career before hurting his right knee late in the first half.

Initially, it was believed to be a minor MCL sprain that wouldn’t sideline him long, though the Bengals obviously weren’t going to bring him back with two games left. They ended up not putting Boyd on injured reserve until the Friday prior to their Week 17 finale vs. the Steelers.

As it turns out, Boyd is still recovering from that injury and has a few weeks left of rehab, according to Alex Marvez:

If Boyd is in fact two weeks away from being completely healed, that means his injury was bad enough to keep him out for about six weeks. While you never want to have an injury, it’s a good thing this didn’t come earlier in the season, or we may have seen Boyd miss around six games with this injury.

That would have been devastating to his chances of signing a long-term extension this offseason, as the Bengals probably would have just let him play out his fourth and final year under contract.

But because Boyd enjoyed a breakout season, he may be in line for a nice extension this offseason.

Be sure to check out our interview with Boyd about his career, his future goals and possibly playing under an offensive-minded coach.